The property our house sits on is full of trees, the beauty of which drew us in the moment we set eyes on them. Tall, sky-reaching pines and hardwoods – never have we had such grandeur right out our back door.
Well, it turns out these beauties shed branches as a year passes, so my husband has developed a rhythm of walking through the yard, wheelbarrow in tow, to collect all the little limbs and big branches, then tossing them into our fire pit. Once we have enough wood, he burns our wee bonfire.
The fire that brings light at night, burns bright even in the day, letting our neighbors know what we’re up to without having to ask.
The flames that warm my husband in the winter only add to the Georgia swelter in the summer.
The blaze that burns with excessive heat consumes the clutter we’ve collected over time.
Fire. Its light, heat, and power paint for us brilliant images for Holy Spirit!
Like a fire, God’s presence burns brightly no matter who or where we are.
Like hot flames, Holy Spirit ignites a passion for God and His ways within each of us.
Like the blaze that turns wood to ash, we are purified by the work of Holy Spirit in us.
Come on! Let’s start a fire!
Presence
🔥Moses had a bush that burned.
🔥The wandering Israelites, a cloud of fire.
🔥The nation of Israel had a consuming blaze of glory that filled the temple.
🔥The two disciples walking along the road to Emmaus, a burning in their hearts.
🔥The disciples gathered in the upper room witnessed tongues of fire alight on every head.
Each of these, a fiery manifestation of the presence of God on earth, grants us another image for Holy Spirit – fire.
Fire produces light. It brightens the darkness and illuminates the way – like the pillar of flames that led the Israelites through the desert (Exodus 13:20-11; Numbers 9:17-23). This fire shone down on the specific path God had laid out for the million-plus Israelites to follow. Literal light.
But more than an average blaze, the pillar of fire also reminded God’s people that God was present with them. In His kindness, the Father demonstrated His nearness visibly. And in His wisdom, He was teaching them spiritual lessons, namely that they could put their trust in Him. The One True God always leads. Always knows the best path. Always works for good.
He’s a light we can follow.
The Psalmist grabs hold of this fire-as-light imagery, describing God’s Word as a “a lamp for my feet” and a “light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). The flickering flame of an ancient lantern is meant to reveal not only the way through the darkness but to God’s truth.
In the opening chapter of his Gospel, the Apostle John describes Jesus as Word, Life, and Light, as in, the Light for “all mankind” (John 1:4). The Light sent to shine in the darkness; the Light that darkness cannot overcome (v.5). The True Light that gives light to everyone (v.9).
Later, John shows Jesus standing in Jerusalem before the crowds who have gathered for the Feast of the Tabernacles, a celebration set ablaze by the lighting of giant candelabras (menorahs) that commemorated God’s pillar of fire in the wilderness. This is where we hear Jesus claim Himself as “the Light of the World,” the One who shows the way while bringing truth and life (8:12; 14:6).1
The visible signs of fiery light in the New Testament are meant to connect back to the imagery of the Old Testament – to demonstrate that Jesus is God, forever present as the blaze that burns to illuminate and reveal.
The dots continue to connect as Jesus prepares His disciples for His departure and the Spirit’s arrival, calling Him “the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16-17). The One who guides (16:13). The One who reveals the Father’s will and makes a way (15:26; 16:13).
Holy Spirit arrives, as promised, in a burst of wind – and burning fire (Acts 2:3). The fiery scene carries forward imagery of the divine desert blaze, except the single flame now burns as many flames, symbolizing Holy Spirit as the embodied presence of God residing in each believer (Romans 8:9). Holy Spirit fills our bodies, making us the very temples of God (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 2 Corinthians 6:16). He burns like fire-blazing torches before the throne of God, and continues the work of presence: spiritual illumination and revelation (Revelation 4:5).
Passion
There’s a reason our culture has such a variety of cliche-like idioms – because they capture what is happening so well! For instance, when we have a dear friend who “burns a little hot,” we know well of her intense enthusiasm for a particular pastime or project. Or maybe we run into someone with a “fire in their belly,” recognizing quickly that they are driven by hyper-focused determination.
Fire ignites passion. Look at the disciples at Pentecost. Before the flame splits and fills each of them, the believers tuck themselves away together in an upper room waiting for the coming Spirit. For ten days. Praying. Trusting. Appointing (Acts 1:12-14). Waiting. But not out in the streets teaching. Not performing signs and wonders. Obediently waiting.
Then it happens. The Spirit blows in and the faithful followers catch fire. The flame of Holy Spirit ignites within them power and passion. Their zeal for spreading the gospel burns bright within each of them and among all of them.
Paul encourages later followers to keep fanning the flames of all that God gives us – from faith to spiritual gifts, from hunger for a closer walk with Jesus to a desire for more awareness of Holy Spirit in us (2 Timothy 1:5-7).
For clarity, we can look back to the days of the Temple and its altar that burned offerings every single day, whose original flame was lit by God Himself (Leviticus 9:24). Whose flame was never, ever allowed to burn out (Leviticus 6:13). Think about what it would take to keep a fire perpetually burning – constant fuel, frequent stoking. Lots of attention. Just like the flames of our faith.
Holy Spirit enters every believer the moment they give Jesus their Big Yes, but if we aren’t intentionally fanning the flames of our faith, they will die out. Those initial flames for Christ that burned so hot can grow cold. Or, some who have grown up in the church need that igniting passion to be lit for the first time! Then again, others have been burned by other believers, or they’ve burned out by over-serving, over-giving, over-doing. However it happens, we can “quench the Spirit” and His work in us (1 Thessalonians 5:19). We can douse the fires of passion if we fail to tend the flame.
Paul encourages us to keep our spiritual fervor burning, never lacking in our zeal for serving the Lord (Romans 12:11), keeping ourselves “fueled and aflame” (v.11 MSG). Jesus calls those in the Church who have “forsaken the love” they had at first to repent, to get back to the practices and works they had in the beginning (Revelation 2:4-5). This is us! We are the Church. Therefore, we are called to stoke the flames of our faith in order to keep our Spirit-gifted-and-ignited passion for Christ, His message, and His mission ablaze.
Purity
Before Jesus’ baptism, John makes the startling announcement that while he baptizes with water, Messiah will baptize with fire (Matthew 3:11). Such a passionate proclamation brings to mind more hot idioms – “walk through fire”, “initiated by fire,” “play with fire…and get burned,” None of which carry positive vibes. So, what does it mean that Jesus baptizes with fire?
Fire purifies. Underneath all the scholarly discussion about what John the Baptist meant lies the end-result of fire – purification and transformation. For instance, gold can be heated until the impurities can be removed. Wooden structures burn until they’re completely changed. And so can we.
One way to understand Jesus’ baptism of fire is to see it as godly judgment. The verse immediately following John’s announcement shows Jesus as “gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:12 NIV). ‘Separating’ metaphors are common with Jesus: sheep and goats, good and bad fish, wheat and chaff. And they always denote the way Jesus, in the end, will judge each person for their faith, or lack of faith, in Him.
Similarly, Jesus later explains that He has come to “set the world on fire,” which sounds, at first, like He’s the spark to ignite a faith-blaze (Luke 12:49). But read in the context of Luke’s passage, we realize Jesus is talking about the refining fire that will burn for generations in preparation for the final day of judgment (vv.50-59). Aka: a blaze that burns away the fruitless, faithless chaff, which is actually a metaphor for the wicked.
There’s also another way to look at Jesus’ baptism by fire: as refinement. For example, read how Eugene Peterson interprets the same “baptize with fire” passage in Matthew:
Jesus “will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out. He’s going to clean house—make a clean sweep of your lives. He’ll place everything true in its proper place before God; everything false he’ll put out with the trash to be burned.”
Matthew 3:12 MSG
When we consider Holy Spirit as fire, it reminds us that He doesn’t enter us to remain cool and passive. He’s there for inner work – to bring the fire of the Father to burn away our sins, to purify our thoughts and motivations, to refine us in the flames of holiness so that we come out on the other side of fiery trials and seasons of intense cleansing transformed. Whole. Holy.**
Holy Spirit in us desires to work with us, partnering with us in the plans of the Father – both for our own spiritual gain and for the good of others. His presence in us becomes our light, illuminating the Father and His paths, revealing His plans and purposes.
Holy Spirit sources our passion to be and do all that God calls us to, igniting in our hearts burning confirmations of His nearness and holy nudges, of His convictions and comfort. He also blows life on the embers of our faith, bringing an intensity to our faith journey with Jesus so that we don’t become lukewarm, and thus deceived into believing we are ‘fine’ as we are (Revelation 3:15-18).
Holy Spirit fuels the flames of judgment that Jesus brings into the world, purifying creation from all that is evil. And He sets a refining fire within Christ’s Church, as well as each individual believer, making us pure, sanctifying and transforming us until we burn brightly for Jesus.
Holy Spirit as fire is no mesmerizing, smoldering flame. He’s an intense blaze burning right in our midst. And, friends, we’re meant to lean in, catching fire as we do.
Today we’re praying a medley of two songs – one an old hymn, the other a new spiritual song.3 Let us pray:
Holy Spirit, Light divine,
shine upon this heart of mine;
chase the shades of night away,
turn my darkness into day.
Holy Spirit, Truth divine,
dawn upon this soul of mine;
Word of God and inward light,
wake my spirit, clear my sight.
Holy Spirit, Love divine,
glow within this heart of mine;
kindle every high desire;
perish self in Thy pure fire.
Consuming fire
My heart’s desire
Oh, how I need You more
A fresh outpour
With no resistance
I give permission
So come now, invade my heart
This life is Yours
Come fill me up, Holy Ghost
Shine brighter till the whole world knows Your love
Come set me on a holy fire
Burn bright until the whole world finds Your love
In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
[Please remember that throughout this series, we want to move through information gathering to Holy Spirit experiencing. As such, I will be adding an ‘experience’ of Holy Spirit each week in our “Rhythms” section below. I hope you’ll jump down there to see how you might stretch yourself in the way of experiencing more of the Spirit in your life. You can trust I’m doing the same!!]
Resources: I love sharing with you the books, podcasts, articles, and anything else that has inspired, encouraged, or taught me. These are humble offerings with no expectations.
- **When we experience the heat of warming hearts and bodies because of Holy Spirit in us, God is giving us a physical sign of spiritual work (Luke 24:32). Sometimes that work is in our actual bodies, like healing, while other times it’s a deep inner work — in our hearts or minds or souls.
For example, John Wesley, Anglican priest and church planter, had been riddled with doubt about his own salvation after a traumatic boating experience. After searching Scripture and quizzing other priests, he felt no different – that is, until one night when he sat listening to someone read Luther’s Preface to the Epistle to the Romans. As the words describing the ‘change that happens in hearts through faith in Christ’ were read, Wesley felt his ‘heart strangely warmed’.2 In that moment, Holy Spirit set ablaze an assurance deep within Wesley that he did trust in Christ, that he’d been saved from the law of sin and death. And that warming ignited a fire in John Wesley – one of holy passion for Christ! - 1 – This GotQuestions article on Jesus saying He is the “Light of the Word”
- 2 – This article documents John Wesley’s heart-warming experience.
- 3 – The first song we pulled from today for our prayer is “Holy Spirit, Light Divine,” a hymn written in the 18th century. On our playlist, I chose the version sung by Faithchild Psalms. The second song is a modern spiritual song by Maverick City Music called “Holy Ghost.” Both utilize fire imagery beautifully and in the varying ways Scripture employs the metaphor for Holy Spirit. And both are on our Holy Spirit Playlist on Spotify.
- Though I didn’t quote her in this post, Carolyn Moore, in her study Encounter the Spirit,^ highly influences everything I’ve written. And I’m grateful for the way she brings personal experience into her biblical teachings.
- Similarly, Lisa Harper’s book^ and study^ on Acts, Believing Jesus, are definitely early catalysts that launched me into a pursuit of knowing Holy Spirit as more than an indistinguishable Person of the Trinity. Lisa always has a way of making difficult doctrine and theology easier to learn – and often with great humor and fun! If you’re eager to know Holy Spirit from a biblical understanding, I highly recommend both her book and study.
- Many of you have found me on Substack. Thank you so much! And, if you’d like to listen to (rather than read) these weekly posts, you can do so on Substack. It’s easy to see and use the audio bar across the top of each post. While you’re on Substack, check out the ministry I’m blessed to be part of, the Devoted Collective.
- My monthly newsletter, The Abiding Life, goes to email inboxes the first week of each month to those who have subscribed on my website. I also post them on Substack. My most recent edition can be found there, and you can subscribe for future newsletters on Substack, here.
Rhythms: As my newsletter’s title infers, we seek to develop an abiding life in this space — a place where we can get informed but also be transformed as we learn to abide in God’s presence throughout our days. I like to think that developing rhythms is one way to aid us in our desire to become more Christlike.
- The rhythm we’ll employ for our summer Holy Spirit series falls in the category of a weekly experience. This week we will enter into the Holy Spirit led practice of experiencing Scripture, called lectio divina. This is our practice of choice this week because it allows us the opportunity to experience the warm burn of our hearts when Holy Spirit has something for us.
A very simplified version of lectio divina is to read a passage of Scripture slowly, savoring every word and asking Holy Spirit to highlight a word or phrase that He has for you — or to reveal a truth you need in your life. You read the passage multiple times, pausing when a word or phrase catches your attention. Then spending time with Holy Spirit on that word or phrase, allowing Him to pour into you.
Some people describe a warming sensation in their bodies, signaling them to step because Holy Spirit is showing or telling them something. One time Holy Spirit supernaturally highlighted a verse for me. In other words, the light or heat of Holy Spirits’s fire will illuminate His Word for you one way or another. (It’s also good to note that we don’t give up entering into this practice just because we don’t hear from Holy Spirit every time. XOXO)
Lectio divina is a great practice for slowing us down as we read God’s Word and listen for God’s Spirit. So, don’t rush the process. (And stick with it). The original lectio divina instructions have us read the same passage four times — once listening to it (as we read it aloud), once meditating on it as to how it applies to our life, once as a conversation with God, and one final time just reading it through then sitting in silence, letting go of our own thoughts, giving space for Holy Spirit to move or speak.
Here some passage recommendations for lectio divina:- Psalm 23
- Psalm 73:23-26
- Ephesians 3:14-21
- John 17
- John 1:1-18
**It’s not the same practice, but the 24/7 Prayer Ministry has a prayer app, Lectio 365, that offers three prayers a day, all of which Word-based and give a good amount of space to be still and listen for Holy Spirit. It’s an incredible resource.
- We’re all called to share the truth about who Jesus is. One way you can do that is by sharing this site and telling others your own stories of faith experiences. May we use our whole selves to tell others about our holy God!!
Featured Photo of an interior window at Christ the King Catholic Church in Ann Arbor, MI
“All the Bits and Pieces” Photo by Zrng N Gharib on Unsplash.
^These are affiliate links, with which this ministry earns a wee little bit. XOXO